A. 
The members of the Zoning Hearing Board in office at the time of adoption of this chapter shall continue until the expiration of their terms. Thereafter all reappointments by the Board of Commissioners shall be for three years. If a vacancy occurs on the Board, the Commissioners may fill it only for the unexpired portion. All appointments shall be residents of the Township and none shall hold any other public office in the Township, except that one may be a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
B. 
A Board member may be removed from office by majority vote of the Board of Commissioners for malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance in office or other just cause after a majority vote. The accused member shall be given 15 days' notice before the vote and may request a public hearing, in writing, if he wishes to contest the proposed action.
C. 
The Board shall annually elect from its members a Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary, all of whom may succeed themselves. The Board shall reorganize at its first meeting each year.
D. 
The Chairman shall call and conduct hearings. The Vice Chairman shall act in the Chairman's absence. The Secretary shall keep minutes of meetings, transcribe proceedings, distribute copies of testimony as needed and place hearing advertisements. Transcription and distribution of testimony may be assigned to others, not members of the Board.
E. 
The Board may appoint a Hearing Officer from its membership to conduct a hearing on its behalf if a quorum cannot be obtained. Members who have a conflict of interest with a case to be heard may excuse themselves from the hearing.
F. 
The Board shall keep full public records of its business and shall submit an annual report of its activities to the Board of Commissioners, not later than the first of March each year.
G. 
The Board may contract for legal, stenographic or consulting services upon the approval of the Commissioners.
A. 
Appeals from decisions of the Zoning Officer. The Board shall hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that the Zoning Officer has failed to follow prescribed procedures or has misrepresented or misapplied any provision of this chapter.
B. 
Challenges to the validity of the ordinance or map. The Board shall hear such challenges on substantive questions, take evidence and make a written record. At the conclusion of the hearing the Board shall decide all contested questions and shall make findings on all relevant issues of fact which shall become part of the record on appeal to the courts.
C. 
Variances. The Board shall hear requests for variances where it is alleged that the provisions of this chapter inflict unnecessary hardship upon the applicant.
(1) 
The written application for a variance submitted to the Board Secretary in advance of the hearing shall demonstrate, where relevant:
(a) 
That the property to be developed is of a peculiar shape or size and/or contains unusual topographic or other conditions creating a hardship.
(b) 
That because of these circumstances and not the regulations of this chapter there is no possibility the property can be developed in strict accordance with the regulations.
(c) 
That such hardship has not been created by the appellant.
(d) 
That the requested variance, if granted, will not downgrade the character of the neighborhood, nor impair the future development of adjacent properties in conformance with this chapter, nor undermine the public welfare.
(2) 
If authorized, the variance shall represent the least deviation from the regulations that will afford relief.
(3) 
In granting a variance the Board may attach appropriate conditions necessary to protect the intent of this chapter and the public health and safety.
(4) 
Under no circumstances shall the Board grant a variance to allow a use not permitted under the terms of this chapter in the zoning district containing the property for which the variance is sought or any use expressly or by implication prohibited by the terms of this chapter in the zoning district.
D. 
Special exceptions. The Board shall hear requests for special exceptions accompanied by a written statement and a plan as described in § 180-27G and H. Special exception uses are listed in §§ 180-15D, 180-16D, 180-17D and 180-18D. Specific criteria that apply to each such use are contained in §§ 180-28, 180-29 and 180-30.
[Amended 12-12-1997 by Ord. No. 281]
E. 
Appeals for approval of uses not listed in any zone district. The Board shall hear appeals for the right to develop uses not specifically listed as permitted by right or conditionally in any zone district.
(1) 
A developer proposing such a use shall first apply for a zoning permit and if denied, may appeal to the Board.
(2) 
The Board shall hear the appeal and shall determine in which zone district the proposed use would be most appropriate, based an the permitted and conditional uses listed for each zone classification. The Board may also find that the proposed use is inappropriate in all zone districts of the Township.
(3) 
If the Board selects a zone classification, it need not necessarily be the one including the appellant's property. The proposed use shall become a conditional use in the zone classification selected, and the Board shall attach appropriate guidelines for consideration of the conditional use.
(4) 
The appellant may then, provided that he has property in the selected zone classification, apply for conditional use approval as provided in Article VI.
A. 
An appeal, challenge or request for a variance may be filed, in writing, with the Secretary of the Board by, or on behalf of, any owner of land in the Township, by any tenant wishing a variance with the permission of his landowner or by any officer or agency of the Township or by any aggrieved person.
B. 
When a request for a hearing is received by the Board Secretary, the Board shall schedule and hold the hearing within 60 days.
C. 
Hearings shall be conducted by the Board or by a Hearing Officer member whose decision or findings, where no decision is required, may be considered final if acceptable to all parties.
D. 
The parties to a hearing shall be the Township, the appellant and anyone affected by the application and/or any civic or community organization who or which requests, in writing, the opportunity to appear prior to the hearing or on appearance forms provided at the hearing.
E. 
Notice of a hearing shall be mailed at least 15 days before the hearing to all parties and in addition, to the Zoning Officer and to owners of properties adjacent to or directly across a street from the boundary of the property or properties affected by the hearing, as well as to others who have filed a timely request to receive notice.
F. 
Public notice shall be placed twice in a newspaper of general local circulation, once in each of two consecutive weeks, the first not more than 30 days and the second notice not less than seven days before the hearing. In addition, if a variance is sought or an appeal requested, notice shall be placed conspicuously on the affected property at least 14 days before the hearing.
[Amended 12-12-1997 by Ord. No. 281]
G. 
Notices shall indicate the date, time and place of the hearing and the specific nature of the matter to be heard.
A. 
The Chairman or Hearing Officer shall have the power to administer oaths and issue subpoenas to compel attendance of witnesses and the production of relevant documents, including those requested by the parties.
B. 
The parties shall have the right to be represented by counsel and shall be afforded the opportunity to respond and present evidence and arguments, and to cross-examine adverse witnesses on all relevant issues. Formal rules of evidence shall not apply but irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence may be excluded.
C. 
The Board or the Hearing Officer shall cause to have kept a stenographic record of the proceedings unless all parties agree, in writing, in advance that a sound recording will suffice. A transcript of the proceedings and copies of graphic or written material received in evidence shall be made available to any party at cost.
D. 
The Board or the Hearing Officer shall not communicate, directly or indirectly, with any party and/or representatives of any party in connection with any issue relevant to the hearings, except upon notice and opportunity for all parties to participate, shall not take legal notice of any communications, reports or other materials unless all parties are afforded an opportunity to contest the material so noticed and shall not inspect any site or its surroundings with any party and/or representative of any party after the start of hearings unless all parties are given an opportunity to be present.
E. 
The Board or Hearing Officer shall render a written decision or, when no decision is required, written findings on the application within 45 days after the conclusion of the hearing before the Board or Hearing Officer. Decisions shall be accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions based on them together with the reasons therefor. Conclusions based on any provisions of this chapter or any other ordinance or regulation of the Township or the State Planning Code[1] shall contain a reference to the provision relied on and the reasons why a conclusion is deemed appropriate in the light of the facts.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
F. 
If any party affected by a decision rendered by a Hearing Officer does not agree that the Hearing Officer's decision shall be binding, the Board shall make the Officer's report and recommendations available to the parties who shall be entitled to make written representations thereon to the Board which shall convene as a whole and render a final decision and entry of findings, not later than 45 days after the Hearing Officer's decision.
G. 
When the Board or Hearing Officer fails to render a decision where it or he has the power to do so within 45 days after hearing the application or fails to hold the public hearing within 60 days of receiving the request for one, the decision shall be deemed to have been rendered in favor of the applicant, unless the applicant and Board have agreed, in writing, to a specific time extension.
H. 
When the decision favors the applicant as a result of the Board's failure to render a decision or schedule a hearing, the Board shall give public notice of the decision within 10 days in a newspaper of general location circulation.
I. 
A copy of the final decision or the findings if no decision is required shall be mailed to the applicant not later than the day after the date of the decision. All others requesting notice of the decision not later than the last day of the findings or decision and a statement of the place at which the full decision or findings may be examined.
A. 
Once the Zoning Officer has acted on a development proposal pursuant to the regulations of this chapter, any party may appeal the decision to the Board not later than 30 days after the Zoning Officer's action, unless the party can prove he had no knowledge of the decision within the thirty-day period. A second party succeeding in interest, shall be bound by the first party's knowledge.
B. 
While an appeal is pending before the Board, any development affected by the appeal shall be halted unless the Zoning Officer certifies to the Board that suspension would cause imminent peril to life and property. In this case suspension will occur only by a restraining order granted by the Board or Beaver County Court. The party forced to stop shall have the right to petition the Court to require the appealing party to post a bond as a condition of continuing the appeal, the amount to be determined by the Court. The Court shall hear the petition, determine whether the appeal is frivolous and if so, may require the posting of the bond.
C. 
Appeals from decisions of the Board or upon reports of the Board in proceedings to challenge the validity of this chapter, shall be filed within 30 days of the decision or completion of the report, with the Clerk of the Beaver County Court of Common Pleas.